Disability Insurance FAQs

A small handful of insurance advisors write a significant percentage of new individual disability insurance policies each year. These folks across the country build deep, longstanding relationships with the insurance companies and are well regarded within the professional networks they serve (for us that’s physicians!). After years of working together, consistently proving our service, responsiveness, and expertise, these advisors and their teams may earn access to guaranteed standard issue (GSI) policies for specific institutions.

We are one of those trusted advisors, and we have built a bespoke, comprehensive GSI policy that we are happy to offer to residents and fellows at our partner training institutions.

This is one of the unique benefits of individual disability insurance policies! Disability insurance claim funds paid out to you, the insured, are treated differently than income and are not taxed. The only exception is if you are self-employed, and your corporation pays the premiums with pre-tax dollars.

Disability insurance is also unique in that it’s the only type of insurance that pays you, the insured directly. This is one of the reasons we particularly enjoy working with folks to secure disability insurance.

It depends on the GSI plan in question, but generally speaking, if you were previously declined coverage, you will be unable to qualify for a GSI policy. This is why we always advise folks to check to see if a GSI exists at their institution prior to applying for coverage.

Any ethical agent you engage with should be willing to let you know if a GSI plan is available to you, even if they are not the agent who can write it.

Nope! We absolutely do not. We only get compensated if you purchase a policy. We regularly provide uncompensated advice to our clients. It’s also illegal for insurance agents to offer money to prospective clients, so be wary of anyone offering you a “discount” or other compensation to secure coverage with them.

You pay exactly the same amount for your coverage, whether you go with an agent or buy through a platform. Working with a team you respect who understands the nuance of your chosen career is particularly helpful in the event you need to file a claim. We hope that you never do, but the reality is over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year olds will be disabled over the course of their careers.

Yes. It is very common for physicians to have more than one policy. Often, they will have one or two (or more) individual policies and an employer provided group policy while they work with that employer. If you are in a high earning specialty and expect to earn more than $600,000 you should consider establishing more than one individual policies.

Of course. We understand that our clients’ financial priorities shift over the course of their lives and careers. We help people scale back their coverage, cancel their policies, or add more coverage.

We’ve seen it all and know that our reputation is our greatest asset. Being good partners to our clients and helping them to achieve their long-term financial goals (including canceling policies when appropriate) is our highest priority.

This is why having an individual disability insurance policy is so critical. Your individual disability insurance policy will cover you in the new specialty automatically! There is no need to apply again or update the insurance company or us.

Your policy will continue to cover you even if you completely change careers.